Self-Editing (minus the primeval scream) by Connie Vines

This month's Round Robin Topic:  How do I self-edit my books before submitting or publishing? 

Self-editing is painful.  Every writer I  know fights the urge to 'self-edit' while creating the first draft of his/her novel.  Remember the cartoons you watched as a child (or perhaps still watch.  I'm not judgmental) where the hero has a devil sitting on one shoulder and the angel on his other?  Both were whispering in his ear.  Your hero is overcome with confusion and self-doubt, uncertain of what to do next.

Well, that is a large part of the writing process--learning to ignore the self-editing instructions that are always at the back of your mind.

When a I type THE END, I breath a sigh of relief.
For a few minutes, perhaps even several hours, I'm thinking about my next project.

Then reality sets in (hence the mention of a primeval shout) how many times did I write the word 'that'?  I read a book once where every chapter started with a description of the weather.  I didn't tie-up that loose-end.

I believe I must self-edit before sending my novel to a beta reader.

If you’re ready to self-edit your book, consider these 10 tips:

1. Rest your manuscript

When you’ve finished typing the last word of your masterpiece, set it aside for a few days.  In On Writing, Stephen King relates that he places his finished drafts in a drawer for at least six weeks before looking at them again.

Why rest your manuscript?  When you do come back to self-edit, the book almost seems as if someone else wrote it.

2. Listen to your manuscript

Hearing your words spoken makes mistakes glaringly obvious.

If you’re a Mac user, click the Apple logo at the top left of your screen, select System Preferences, click Accessibility, then click Speech. Choose a System Voice and Speaking Rate you can tolerate, then select “Speak selected text when the key is pressed.”

Once you’ve enabled your preferred shortcut key, simply highlight any text (within any program) that you want to hear read aloud. Then hit your shortcut keys and follow your words on-screen as your computer reads them aloud.

For PC users, make use of Narrator, part of the system’s Ease of Access Center. Press “Windows+U” and click “Start Narrator.” Since the program is intended for blind users, it will automatically begin to read any text your mouse encounters. To turn this off, hit “Control.” To have Narrator read a paragraph, place your cursor at its beginning and type “Caps Lock + I.” To have Narrator read an entire page, press “Caps Lock + U.”

Or make use of a recording app on your iPhone.  I think in chapters of three when writing.  So, I will read my novel three chapter at a time. Often, I catch the mistakes when reading.  Pause, make a note, and then go on reading.

3. Search for troubling words

I am a fan of Grammar Girl podcasts.
To help you consider what your troubling words might be, here’s a good starting list, excerpted from the first chapter of Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing:

a lot/alot
affect/effect
can/may
further/farther
good/well
i.e./e.g.
into/in to
it’s/its
lay/lie
less/fewer
that/who
their/they’re/there
then/than
who/whom
your/you’re

4. Remove or replace your crutch words

Outside of necessary articles and prepositions, you may be surprised at what words you tend to use over and over.

5. Remove all double spaces at the end of sentences

If tapping two spaces following your sentences is an age-old habit ingrained into you.

Conduct a find-and-replace search after you’re done writing. In Word, type two spaces in “find” and one space in “replace” and hit enter. Voila!

6. Run spell check or use an automated editing program

8. Purchase The Chicago Manual of Style.

 You can subscribe to the online version for $35 a year.  I prefer the the hardbound copy.

9. Set aside an hour or two to go through this list with your manuscript, but be careful about over-editing.

10.  Send it off to your beta reader/plotting partner.  Remember to reward your reader with a gift card.

Happy Reading and Writing,

Connie


Stop by and see what the other Round Robin members have to say about the "torments" of  self-editing:

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea

Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/

Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/

Anne Stenhouse  http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/

A.J. Maguire  http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/

Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-1yE

Victoria Chatham http://www.victoriachatham.com

Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog

Judith Copek http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/

Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com

See my website for this giveaway

My Motto

4 WAYS TO REVISE AS YOU WRITE by Rita Karnopp

I’ll bet you could ask ten writers their revision process and you’d get ten different styles or processes for revisions.  Some love it . . . and some absolutely hate it.  Why?

Many writers prefer writing . . . writing . . . and writing.  I think that’s the category I prefer. Others embrace the process of revision and strive on the act of strengthening, polishing, and ultimately making their novel the best it can be.

Whether you love or hate it, revision is an essential part of writing, and one that every writer must accept.

There are ways to minimize the revising process. In Revision and Self-Editing for Publication author James Scott Bell gives you four ways to revise as you write.  If this is the style of revision you prefer, his book is a worth buying and reading.  The premise of this method is as follows:

1. Revise Your Previous Pages - Look at what you wrote the day before (or during your last writing stint), and do a quick edit. This practice puts you back into the flow of your story and gets you ready to write the new material.

In Revision and Self-Editing for Publication author James Scott Bell states he likes to print out a hard copy of pages and mark them up. Of course, you can do all this on the computer screen. He just finds that the act of reading physical pages more closely mimics what a reader will be doing, and he will catch more things this way.

In this stage he shares he is mostly editing for style - the way the sentences flow. He wants to make sure what he wanted to convey has actually happened on the page. If a major plot or character problem emerges, or he gets an idea for something to add, he just makes a note of it and moves on to reach his day’s writing quota.

Mr. Bell suggests you should write as fast as you comfortably can on your first draft.

 Have you heard of the 20,000-Word Step Back - Whether you’re a ‘no outline person or an ‘outline Person,’ this 20,000-word step back can be a tremendous tool.

After 20,000 words you stop, take a day off, then read what you have. By this time your story it mapped out in your mind and you’ve done enough of the novel to know what it’s about. Now take some time to make sure you like the characters and the direction you have them going.

If thing seem off, now is the time to make some changes.  Make sure your characters are starting to feel well-rounded, they are recognizable through actions, oddities, imperfections, and tags.

Take note of the tone you’ve given your novel. Is this the direction you want it to take?  If not, again, now is the time to make some changes.

Now get excited and get that novel finished.

Bonus - Don’t lose thoughts and ideas you have along the way… make sure you keep a small notebook handy to you can jot this information down in one place.  I had to learn this lesson the hard way.  I jotted on a piece of paper a Gypsy law I discovered and could hardly wait to use it . . . the I couldn’t find it!  Never did find it on the paper or in my research.  Keep your notes in a 4x5” notebook and you’ll never have this happen to you.